The guardian of magic
by JXeleven
Summary: Jack thought it was just a normal day with Jamie and the other children, but what happens when he meets their new teacher, a young black haired man who apparently can see him. What does it mean and does it have something to do with Pitch returning?
1. A bit of fun

_**A/N: hello people out there, so here's another story from me for all of you. Some (who have read my earlier work) may have noticed that I like unusual crossovers, but I enjoy writing them. **_

_**So a crossover between Merlin and Rise of the guardians, I know strange (even though I have already done one before) but I still hope you will all enjoy this one. Just something I came up with and immediately decided to write it, so I don't know how this will end, but I have some ideas for it. More I won't say over this story, just watch and enjoy and please ask me if you have any questions about things. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own both Merlin and Rise of the guardians, otherwise I didn't have to do this fanfictions... Oh how I wished to own them. **_

xxx

Jack was shouting happily and he and the children were in another heated snowball fight. Oh, how he enjoyed these times with Jamie and the other kids, it was definitely a perfect day for a snowball fight. Thanks to him there lay a thick layer of snow, while the sun shined softly down against the earth, strong enough to warm the children, but not so strong that it melted the snow, it was absolutely perfect.

It were several hours later that the children let themselves sink down to the ground thoroughly exhausted, still giggling from the fun while Jack dropped down right next to them. 'We've had a lot of fun today, haven't we?'

They all nodded enthusiastically and Jamie yelled. 'Yeah, it was awesome!' He then threw his arms tightly around the winter spirit's cold body. 'Let play some more tomorrow, please?!'

'Of course we will!' He answered back, but the smile soon fell slightly as he looked up at the sky, it was getting dark. 'It's time for all of you to go home now, it's getting late.'

'Awwww, but Jack!' They all groaned, but they did listen to what he said and one after the other they stood up, slowly making their way back home.

Jamie was the last one to remain, still looking up at Jack with his big pleading eyes. Jack lifted his eyebrow as he looked back. 'Don't you have somewhere to be ?'

The boy didn't get up, instead he crawled further towards the guardian, letting his head rest against the immortal teenager's chest. 'Just want to talk some more with you, please Jack.'

He chuckled softly but nodded, a few more minutes wouldn't do any harm. So they talked some more and eventually ended up on the subject of school, it was the one topic that he actually wanted to avoid, he didn't know why, but it was probably because he never went to school...

'- and Mr. Peterson is a really mean...' He suddenly stopped as he tilted his head to the side, looking as if he was thinking about something. 'Now that we are talking about teachers, I have this really awesome new teacher. He's all about magical creatures and myths and he makes history actually sound fun and interesting!' Jamie turned around in his arms. 'He's really awesome, maybe he will even be able to see you!'

A laugh left Jack's lips, there weren't any adults that could see him, nor any of the other guardians, it just... wasn't supposed to happen.

'Now hurry up home!'

Jamie smiled as he jumped up, waving once goodbye at Jack before he left.

xxx

Jack flew into one of the workshop's windows, landing with a slight thump on the floor. He looked around, grinning at the hardworking Yetis' who were all working hard on the toys, it wouldn't be long before it was Christmas.

He jumped on his staff, watching the Yetis and elves around him as memories returned to him. It had been almost two years since they defeated Pitch and Jack couldn't have been happier. The other guardians had given him a family, especially North as he had offered to let Jack stay in the workshop, which he sometimes did, but he still slept many days outside in the snow.

Tooth had even made him new clothes, - and shoes, which he didn't wear-, while Bunny and Sandy were just great friends, maybe even like brothers to him.

'Ah, Jack!' North's loud voice boomed through the workshop and Jack was pulled into a tight hug. 'Good to see you back, ve have been expecting you.' Of course they did, they had sent out the Northern lights. He frowned, why had he even done that? ( I am not sure what you are referring to here)

'So what's going on?'

North shook his head. 'Not now, vill tell you after Bunny arrives.'

Jack nodded, clearly not happy that the other didn't want to tell him, but he just silently followed the big Russian into the meeting room. Tooth and Sandy were already there, Tooth ordering her fairies around as Sandy seemed to just have fallen asleep, a cup of warm chocolate milk hanging dangerously from his hand.

'Jack, welcome back!' Tooth screamed as she flew towards him, hugging him tightly before putting her fingers in his mouth, examining his teeth. North just laughed as he pulled her off him and Jack quickly hugged Sandy who was now woken up.

They all settled down on the chairs, chatting happily with each other for a few more minutes before one of Bunny's tunnels opened itself in the middle of the room and the Easter Bunny jumped out of it, clearly slightly irritated that he had been interrupted in his work.

'Yo, cottontail!' Jack yelled his greeting before he received a rather irritated growl from Bunny.

'Enough talk, ve have more important things to talk about!' North said as he clapped his hands once, immediately all attention was on the large Russian and North sighed deeply. 'I fear that I have some disturbing news, Pitch is back.'

xxx

Jack was swinging his legs back and forth, his mind on the events of last night. To think that Pitch was back again, it was... no, he wasn't scared, he was just... nervous. He would never be afraid of Pitch again, never.

His eyes shifted to the little boy approaching him, he knew he had to tell Jamie and the others that Pitch was back. He didn't know how they would react.

He quickly pulled up a fake grin, jumping down to greet his young friend. 'Jamie!'

'Jack!' The boy screamed as he raced to the winter spirit. 'The others will be a bit later, so for now it's just us two.'

Just one minute later and they were in a wild one on one snowball fight, Jack making sure to hold back.

A smirk ran over his lips as he saw how Jamie bent over to grab some more snow and he shot forwards, pulling the boy's shirt back before he dumped the frozen liquid in his shirt.

Jamie screamed in surprise, jumping around in order to get the snow out before he glared playfully at Jack. 'I will get you for that!' He ran forward, jumping in Jack's arms and the two of them toppled over, rolling through the snow and soon they were completely covered in white, which wasn't a big change for Jack.

They laughed at each other, while Jamie brushed the snow out of his face and off his clothes.

But then the both of them froze as they heard someone else chuckle behind them, it wasn't the laugh of one of the children, instead it was that of a grown man. Their heads snapped around and Jack stared at a grinning man. He blinked once as he took him in. The man in front of him was a tall skinny man with short black hair and blue eyes that could even match North's. He was wearing a long coat with a bright red scarf wrapped around his neck.

'Mr. Emerson!' Jamie yelled as he jumped up, smiling brightly at the man in front of him.

Mr. Emerson chuckled softly. 'Good to see you too, Jamie. Having fun in the snow?'

Jamie glanced nervously at Jack before he answered. ' Yeah, a lot!'

'Good.' Mr. Emerson answered before his eyes shifted away from Jamie.

...and onto him... _Wait, what?!_

The skinny man smiled at Jack, he was smiling at him, _a grownup was grinning at him! _'Hi and you're? I'm guessing Jamie's older brother.' The man offered him his hand.

Jack gaped at him. 'Uhh... no, I'm not Jamie's brother, I'm Jack.' He touched Mr. Emerson's hand, but the other man didn't flinch away from his cold touch. 'How... how can you see me?'

Mr. Emerson frowned at the question, but just shrugged it off. 'Why wouldn't I be able to see you, besides that, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Merlin Emerson, but you can just call me Merlin.' He glanced at Jamie as the boy opened his mouth. 'You can call me that outside of school.'

It was then that they heard yelling and they turned around, to see the other children were running towards them, calling out Jack's name before they stopped and looked startled at their teacher. 'Mr. Emerson?' Pippa asked.

'Hi, all out to have some fun in the snow with Jamie and Jack?' Merlin replied back.

'You can see Jack?' Caleb shouted before turning to the others. 'I told you he was a cool teacher!'

Their teacher rolled his eyes. 'Why does everyone think that I'm not supposed to see him?'

It was Jack who answered. 'Well, because you're only supposed to see me if you believe in me.'

Merlin blinked for a moment at him before his eyes grew wide, as if he seemed to realize something. 'You... you are...'

'I'm Jack Frost.' He answered with a nod.

'A creature of magic.' Merlin whispered in amazement as he looked Jack up and down. In the end a bright smile just spread over his lips. 'Now Jack, it's really nice to meet you, but please don't give the children too many snow days.'

Jack just laughed in return. 'I won't make any promises to you.' He turned back to the kids. 'Now, who wants to have some fun?' They all screamed in excitement and followed Jack as they started to play.

Now and then Jack would glance at Merlin who was sitting down on one of the benches, a bright smile spread over his lips as he watched him and the children play, but eventually the man left without another word.


	2. A dark lord

_**A/N: Hello everyone, so the second chapter for this story. Even so I may not know if I will be able to update next week as I then have exams. Even so I'm not completely happy about this chapter, so please forgive me for that. So enjoy and tell me what you thought of it.**_

_**Also what I like to mention; English isn't my first language, so please forgive me for any mistakes I have made.**_

_**Update: now this chapter is betad, thanks to my beta reader.**_

xxx

Jack walked absentmindedly through the halls of North's workshop, they had decided on another meeting because they didn't knew what Pitch's plan was or even if he was planning something, but his own thoughts weren't on the nightmare king, they were on Merlin, Jamie's teacher.

The winter spirit quickly scanned the hallway, he knew that he was probably the first one in the workshop, except North, but he lived here so that didn't really count.

He still couldn't fathom that an adult had been able to see him, it had never happened before, not even to the others, at least as far as he knew...

He looked up, searching for the large jolly man. He jumped on the railing, hanging from the metal as he glanced up and down the different layers of the workshop. Jack grinned when he noticed North and quickly jumped down three floors, landing softly onto the wooden floor behind him, startling both North and the two Yetis that stood beside him.

North spun around, his hands reaching for his swords around his belt, but he immediately dropped them when he noticed the winter spirit. 'Oh Jack, don't startle people like that.' Jack just chuckled in reaction and North pulled him in a hug. 'How vere the kids?'

He eventually released Jack and the teenager stumbled slightly back. 'They were doing great.' He said with a grin, but the grin soon disappeared as he looked nervously at his father figure. 'North, can I ask you something?'

'Of course Jack.'

'When I went to see Jamie and the others I met their teacher... North, he was able to see me, a grown up saw me!' He exclaimed with wide eyes.

North was startled by the words, blinking for a moment at him with his big blue eyes. 'Are you sure about it, Jack?' The winter spirit nodded, causing the larger man to frown. 'Das is not something I have encountered before. Ve vill ask the others if they know... vhat's his name?'

'Merlin Emerson and the strangest thing was that he didn't even know who I was, it wasn't as if he believed in me.' It hurt to think that the man wasn't a believer, especially when he had so few.

xxx

Merlin slowly tapped his fingers onto the edge of the chair, a book in his lap, but he couldn't focus on the words, his mind still with the boy he had met.

Jack Frost... a real winter spirit. He had known that they existed, but he had never interacted with them like _this_. The strangest thing was that he hadn't noticed that Jack was a spirit until he stood in front of him.

Spirits were creatures of magic, or at least that was what he had figured out. It wasn't as if anyone could teach him about them, even the druids hadn't been able to see them... Still he could feel that their magic was different from his own, it felt old, maybe even older than the old religion. He figured it was because this was nature's magic, it must have existed since the beginning of time.

He breathed deeply out as his eyes glanced outside, staring at the moon. It shone bright tonight and he could feel its magic brush over his skin. He had always felt safe under the moon like this.

For the tenth time that day he wondered if meeting Jack was just an coincidence or if it meant something more. It wouldn't be the first time that he was forced to meet people by the old religion, he was just a pawn to them.

He sighed, he would just have to wait and see what happened next, he couldn't worry so much about it.

He placed the book back onto the table as he stood up, he still had to grade at least ten more papers before tomorrow.

xxx

'Are you really serious, mate?' Bunny asked again as he crossed his arms.

Jack copied him by crossing his own arms, but added a glare. 'I just told you kangaroo!' He snapped. 'I met this man when I was talking to Jamie and he was able to see me. You can go ask Jamie if you don't believe me.'

'Oh, of course we believe you, sweet tooth. It's just... it's just not something we are used to hearing.' The tooth fairy said as she fluttered towards him, wrapping her arms around him.

'Da, tooth's right. It's rather difficult for us to understand vhat you're saying as ve have never heard of an adult being able to see us, maybe ve should meet this man too.' North declared as he sent Jack a warm smile.

'And then you will see that I told the truth.' He said as he shot another glare towards the Easter bunny. He knew that he sounded rather childish, but he just didn't care at the moment.

'But enough about that for the moment, we need to talk about Pitch.' Tooth stated with a sad look on her face. 'He attacked one of my fairies in Asia last night, she's fine and I think he just wanted to make his presence known to us, but... We need a plan.'

Jack was only half listening to the others as they tried to figure out a plan, it wasn't as if they could do much now since they didn't even know where Pitch was. Sandy had suggested to see Pitch's lair under the old wooden bed, but it would have been foolish of the nightmare king to stay there, so Tooth decided to send out one of her fairies, who came back empty handed as expected.

So Jack just stared out of the window, watching as the snowflakes softly swirled down. It was strange to think that Pitch was able to come back so soon after they had defeated him.

He bit his lip, maybe he should go and watch over Jamie, who knows what Pitch would do to him and the other kids. They had helped defeat him after all. 'Shouldn't we watch over Jamie?' He blurted out his thoughts.

This startled the others, who were deep in conversation, when they heard his sudden voice. 'Vhat?'

Jack shuffled nervously in his chair. 'Uhh... I meant like Jamie and the other kids have helped us defeat him before... and he may try to hurt them as revenge.'

'Jack does have a point, we don't know what Pitch's plan is and we may need to watch those ankle biters.' Bunny said in agreement.

A smile spread over the winter spirit's face. 'Now that we agree on that, I will take the first watch!' And without waiting for a reply from the others he jumped up and quickly climbed into the windowsill. 'I'llsee you guys later.' And with that he jumped down.

He heard Bunny's shout, but he just laughed and didn't look back as he let the wind take him to Burgess.

The sun was already sinking down as he arrived at Jamie's house and he quickly crouched down in front of the window. the Bennett family was still eating their dinner so he just watched them silently through the window. He felt a sting of pain rush through his heart as he saw their joy filled smiles... Old memories of who he once was rushed to the surface, he still missed them, his mother, his father... his sister, but they were all long gone now.

He sighed deeply as walked a few paces back before jumping up and into Jamie's room. Good thing that the boy always made sure to keep his window open in case Jack or one of the other guardians came to visit.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard loud footsteps jump up the stairs and the door was thrown open. 'Hi, kid.' Jack said with a smile and Jamie just gasped at him for a moment.

The smile returned to the little brunette as he lunged forward, hugging his cold friend tightly. 'Jack!' He said with a grin before he looked up. 'What are you doing here?'

For a moment Jack hesitated, could he tell the boy that Pitch was back? He knew that Jamie was strong, but... he didn't want the boy to become nervous, to be afraid that Pitch would jump out of the shadows at any moment of the day. 'J-just... wanted to see you. I thought it was time for a sleepover!' He yelled as he jumped up. 'We're going to have so much fun!'

xxx

Merlin yawned as he placed the last of the papers to the side, for a moment his eyes lingered at the boy's name; Jamie Bennett. He sighed softly, maybe he would see Jack again, he had to say he was rather curious about the boy.

He slowly got up from the chair and walked to his bedroom. He owned a small apartment at the edge of the town, the back of the house facing the woods. He found it calming to be able to see the woods, it reminded him of Ealdor, the peacefulness of nature.

He quickly settled down in bed, feeling the sleep already pulling at his mind.

He was sure that he hadn't been asleep for long before he felt a dark presence brush against his mind, one that caused shivers to run up and down his spine, one that woke him right up.

Merlin shot up, eyes snapping through the room as he tried to find the source of the presence. The only thing he saw were shadows, moving rapidly through the room and he quickly pressed his back against the headrest.

'What?' He breathed out, the shadows slowly cornering him. He could feel the magic they emitted, it was old, almost like an old force of nature, one that emitted pure terror and fear. 'Show yourself!' He growled, knowing that he shouldn't show fear... even when he felt it.

A low chuckle rushed through the room and the shadows slowly started to merge, forming a human figure. 'Hello, my dear boy.' Then suddenly the figure started to make his way towards the bed, tilting his head slightly to the side, a wicked smile spreading over his lips. 'I must say I was rather surprised when my shadows informed me of your power, you're Emrys, aren't you?'

Merlin stiffened as he heard his druid name and he narrowed his eyes. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

The dark man looked amused down at him. 'We both know that you're him.' Merlin just shot him a glare in return. 'Don't be so hostile, I just want to give you an offer.'

'And that is?'

'I wish for you to join me.'


	3. Nightmares

_**A/N: So hello people! Here's the third chapter for this story already and I hope you all will enjoy it. I also have to say that it seems my stories always become darker than I want them to become, oh well, it can still be a lot of fun. :) Oh and a big thanks for my beta reader! And it took a bit longer than planned, but I had exams and they kind of go before writing, still I promise never to abandon a story.**_

_**I know that there were probably a lot of people questioning why I let Pitch over Merlin that deal, but you can also not deny that so many years alone can definitely damage a person, just like Jack. So please enjoy this chapter and tell me what you thought of it. **_

xxx

_The dark man looked amused down at him. 'We both know who you really are.' Merlin just shot him a glare in return. 'Don't be so hostile, I simply wish to give you an offer.'_

_'And that is?'_

_'I wish for you to join me.'_

Merlin blinked as he stared at the shadow man in front of him. 'You want me to join you?' He let out a small laugh, one that was created mostly by the his nerves. He could feel the power that the man emitted, the darkness. He breathed in deeply as he narrowed his eyes, glaring at the man in front of him. 'I will not work with you.' He could feel the pure darkness of the man, he clearly had nothing good in mind.

The shadow man's eye twitched slightly as he breathed in softly. 'But why not, we would make a great team.' He stepped closer to Merlin. 'I am darkness and you... I can feel the darkness inside your heart, your anger and your fear.'

Merlin stiffened and quickly threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, straightening his back to make himself taller, this man was way too tall. 'Stay out of my head, I may hold darkness like you say, but that doesn't mean that I will give in to the darkness and work with the likes of you. Get out of my house. Now!' The last word he shouted.

The shadow man didn't even blink at the angered warlock in front of him.

_'Gedríf butan sé carcernþéostru_.' Merlin hissed and he could see the shadow man step back in fright as a warm light spread from the raven's body, heading towards the man. 'I told you, get out!'

'I'm not afraid of your spells, the only thing they can possibly do is scratch me, they will never be able to hurt me.' Those angered eyes softened for a moment 'But I will do as you wish, I will go, for now.' He said with a chuckle as he stepped back, already engulfed by the shadows of the night. 'But remember that I know your darkness, your fear of becoming the monster... even though you already are a monster, an immortal one. Always watching your friends die, betraying them, lying to them.' A loud high laugh rang through the room. 'I will be gone, but don't forget me, my name is Pitch Black.' And with that he was gone.

Merlin stared into the darkness as he reached for his chest, feeling how his heart had tightened by those simple words. He knew they were true, he was nothing other than a monster. He always had to choose between a lonely lifetime or one where he felt continual loss, as he watched his friends die, one after another... if he even had them that long, usually they accused him of witchcraft when they saw that he didn't age.

That night his dreams were filled with nightmares.

xxx

Jack glanced at Jamie as he walked with the boy to school, listening to the boy's joy filled words. Jamie had clearly enjoyed Jack's stay, they had talked almost the whole night, or at least until he knew that he should be the responsible one, so he sent Jamie to bed.

The winter spirit brushed his staff along the sidewalk, freezing the stones as they met the wood. It was still snowing softly and Jack knew that there would probably be a large snowball fight during lunch break, especially if he had something to say about it.

'... Jack, are you listening?'

He glanced sheepishly back to Jamie, blinking slightly before he rubbed the back of his head. 'Yeah, I wasn't really listening, sorry. What did you say?'

Jamie shrugged. 'Nothing much, just that after school I think the others and I would really like to play in the snow.'

'Sounds like a plan!' Jack said with a smile as he gave the other a thumbs up.

It didn't take long before they reached Jamie's school and Jamie ran inside, followed by Jack who simply grinned as he walked in after the boy. Smiling at the children who were able to see him, which was mostly Jamie's gang, a little girl two grades under Jamie, who only stared at him with big green eyes and then an older boy who begged him for a free snow day.

Eventually he wandered towards Jamie's desk and sat down in the windowsill next to the boy's table. He was chatting softly with Jamie until their teacher walked in. Jack stared at Merlin, or Mr. Emerson as the students were supposed to call him. The raven looked tired, almost as if he could fall asleep at any moment, dark circles clearly visible beneath his bright blue eyes.

He wasn't sure if the others saw it too, as it was clear that this man was good at hiding his tired eyes beneath his warm and gentle smile. A smile that could easily light up the whole room and Jack wasn't surprised that he was a favorite among the children.

Jack didn't really pay much attention to what Merlin was explaining, something that most likely had to do with math, a subject that he didn't really care about, he was a spirit after all, and he hadn't any use for numbers or any such thing.

It was during the first break and the children had already rushed to the playground that Jack made his way towards the teacher's desk, standing in front of Merlin who looked up at him from his seat. 'Ahh Jack, it's good to see you again,' Merlin exclaimed with a forced smile.

'Yeah, I would say the same about you... How are you, you look tired.'

And with that Merlin's smile disappeared and he let his head drop into his hands. 'Is it really that obvious?... And it's nothing, just a rough night.'

Jack climbed on top of the table, sitting with crossed legs in front of the teacher. 'I don't think the kids noticed.' He leaned forwards as he examined Merlin's face. 'But is that really all there is to it?'

'Yeah, don't worry about it.' Merlin answered as the fake smile returned to his face, shaking his head slightly.

It was then that Jack noticed it, the small grains of black sand falling from that raven black hair. Jack's hand shot forward, brushing through that black hair and pulling out the grains of sand, pitch black against his milk white skin. 'Pitch.' He mumbled.

Merlin pulled back, almost causing the chair to tip over as he stared with wide eyes at the winter spirit. 'What di-.'

'Do you work for Pitch?' Jack snapped as he threw the sand to the ground and reached for his staff.

'P-Pitc-...' Merlin fell silent as his eyes widened even further. 'Pitch.' He eventually breathed out as he straightened his back. 'No... no, I don't work with Pitch, I...'

'But you met him.'

It was a moment more but in the end Merlin nodded. '... Yes, I met him... Last night, he told me that he wanted to work with me.'

'You can't!'

'I know... that is why I refused his offer.'

Jack blinked rapidly as he rubbed his face, it was clear that something had to be done... and quickly. He had to get Sandy, he didn't knew if some sand had gotten into Merlin.

Right then the bell rang, break was over.

Jack's eyes snapped open as he looked back at Merlin. 'Do you know if any of the sand got inside of you?' Merlin blinked at him for a moment, but shook his head. 'Then you go back to teaching and I will call Sandy.' The teacher gave him a confused look and he quickly added. 'He's a friend of mine, he will be able to tell if any sand got inside of you, it may corrupt you.'

It was clear that Merlin didn't really like the idea, but it was also clear that he had no other choice. So he quickly gave Jack a nod and turned to the first students coming through his door.

Jack quickly returned to his place next to Jamie's seat and waited for the boy to return.

Jamie looked a bit hurt as he returned to the class, glaring at his icy friend. 'Why didn't you come outside to play with us?'

'I had to do something.' Jack answered as his eyes shot for a moment to Merlin. 'Jamie, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I will be back around lunch.'

'Uhh... okay.' The boy answered as he saw the seriousness in Jack's eyes.

Jack smiled as he said a quick goodbye to Jamie and the others before he climbed out of the window and let the wind guide him into the air and towards North's workshop. It wasn't as if he knew where in the world Sandy might be, so calling him through the northern lights may be his best option.

He slowed down when he saw the workshop and quickly scanned for an open window, which he found on the second floor. He almost flew into a yeti as he made his way towards the main room. 'North.' He called for the jolly man as he saw the man standing in front of another yeti, something about the toys being red instead of yellow.

North turned around, a wide smile spread over his lips. 'Jack!' He beamed out as he took the teen in his arms. 'Good to see you, but vhat are you doing here?'

'Do you remember the man I told you about that was able to see me?' North nodded. 'I saw him again today and he was covered in Pitch's sand.' He explained slightly panicked.

North's eyes narrowed themselves as he nodded. 'I vill call Sandy.' And he immediately spun around.

Jack sighed as he followed North, he hoped that nothing was wrong with Merlin, he kind of liked the man.


End file.
